Published at 22nd of January 2020 4:15 pm

Volume 3, Chapter 1: The Promise to the Future

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

“…Ah, hey… do you know what the word ‘unreasonable’ means?”

“Mm. For example, ‘Ryner Lute unreasonably attacks women.’ That unreasonable, right?”

“What’s with your example…? Oh, whatever. How about reckless?”

“I often hear about the recklessly perverted criminal sex maniac Ryner Lute.”

“I don’t do that… augh, jeez, that’s not what I’m trying to say,” Ryner Lute said and heaved a listless sigh. He had black hair styled from sleep and a tall, lanky body from which all traces of motivation had been destroyed. For some reason he was wearing the clothes of the Roland Empire’s Magical Knights, a special combat outfit made up of white armor and a robe, but on him, they looked like pajamas…

It was early morning in an Imperial Nelphan forest. Ryner’s black eyes surveyed the path before them with ten thousand years of sleepiness. From where he stood, a fort-like building was visible through the rift in the trees ahead. He gazed at it for some time before turning around.

There sat a beauty on a stump. She was really, truly unbelievably beautiful. Her long, glossy blond hair shone from the light flitting in through the trees. She had serene blue almond-shaped eyes. Her strangely handsome face paired well with her outstandingly stylish body and leather armor. Her delicate arm rested on the sword on waist. It didn’t suit her at all.

She was truly a shining beauty. Of course the fact that she was always absolutely expressionless kind of bothered you when looking at her, but… that too was a certain component of her cold charm.

She wasn’t just any old beauty. Looking at her brought the word ‘goddess’ to mind. A beautiful goddess. She possessed a divine beauty that made anyone who saw her adore her. Worship her.

But Ryner just sighed like he was fed up when he looked at her. “Hey, are you even seriously listening to me?”

“Mm? Your words are upsetting,” Ferris said, her expression slightly serious. “I’m… a bit hurt. I’m always serious. Why do you think fghat off m’?”

“Don’t talk while you’re in the middle of eating dangooooo!!!”

That’s right. The beautiful goddess Ferris Eris was currently busy with dango.

Ryner sighed deeply. “What’s serious about eating dango while you’re talking?”

“I’m seriously e—”

“Just shut up!” Ryner yelled, sick of this. “Well, whatever. Listen while you eat your dango. Look over there. That’s a fort, right?”

“Mmf.”

“I’m not just imagining things when I say it looks like it’ll be guarded by a remarkable amount of Nelphan troops, right?”

“Mmph.”

“So it’s a high security fort. Protected by the army, no less. It looks like there might be some truth behind that rumor that an important literary relic is kept there. That the country gave it that fort for protection. Right?”

“Mmh-mmf.”

“I’ll ask once. If the two of us marched on in to steal the relic, would that be unreasonable or reckless of us? I mean, I tried to ask this earlier too but… what do you think?”

“……”

Ferris’ eyes narrowed like she was deep in thought. She stuffed the final dango into her cheeks. Her meal finished, she took a sip of tea and then stood.

“My dango was delicious again today,” Ferris said. “Shall we go soon?”

“Hah!? What happened to our conversation!?”

Ferris suddenly looked frightened. “What? You wanted some dango too?”

“That’s not what I was saaaaaaayyyyyiiiiiinnnngggg!!!”

In the instant he started yelling, Ferris’ sword came out of its sheath with a sharp noise. She stopped it just before his neck.

“Augh…”

“Nobody would listen to you thinking out loud. There might be a heroic relic we’ve been searching for over there, so we’re going. You wrote the report, right? We shouldn’t let these potentially powerful relics fall into the hands of countries other than the Roland Empire…”

“It’s more like if you don’t listen to Sion’s outrageous orders your favorite dango shop will be destroyed, right?” Ryner replied with half-lidded eyes. “I’ve already heard about that plenty of times.”

“That’s right. The fate of my precious dango rides on that inhuman king Sion. If I don’t protect the peace of our dango, who will!?”

Though Ferris was getting fired up, Ryner was already at the end of his rope. He was too tired for this. “Hah… I’m running out of comebacks about dango… anyway, you don’t think it’s dangerous to run up there without a plan?”

Ferris sheathed her sword with stunning grace and looked at him. “Hm. Are you seriously asking that?”

What a thing to say. “Huh? What?”

“Do you really think we couldn’t get through that level of security?”

Ryner looked back to the fort for some time, crossing his arms and thinking. It was quiet between them as he did. Then he figured out how to approach the matter. “Ah~, okay, I’ll say it another way. See, I’ve had an awful feeling in my gut since I got up early this morning. You ever have that happen? It’s like, when I get up that early I start thinking ‘oh, I don’t wanna go to school, it’s such a pain,’ and after a while my stomach starts hurting…”

“So?”

“Um, so today’s a bad day for me. You should go alone—”

Ferris’s hands moved to her waist faster than the eye could see. Then a dull sound resounded and for some reason Ryner lay collapsed on the ground. Once she made sure of that she put her sword back into its scabbard. “Mm? What’s wrong, Ryner? You’ve suddenly collapsed.”

“Because you suddenly whacked me in the head!”

“Hoh. First your stomach hurts and now it’s your head? You sure are a busy guy.”

Ryner didn’t comment on that. He raised his head from where he lay on the bare ground. “Haaauhh. My head seriously hurts now. I can’t do it. I really can’t go. So you’ll have to go alo—”

“Hmph. So your head hurts that much. But rest assured. You won’t feel any pain at all next time. A refreshing sensation like flying around through the open sky is waiting for you. Just your head will spin around up there.”

“…You are super gross…”

Ferris nodded humbly. “It is a pretty gross punishment to put into practice. Now then…”

Ryner jumped up in a hurry. “Aaaaaaahhh wait! Don’t talk about putting it into practice as you reach for your sword! I get it already! Look, my stomach pain’s all cured so I’m ready to storm the fort! Work really is the most important thing…”

Ferris smiled kindly all of a sudden, though it didn’t reach her eyes at all. She gazed at Ryner. “Mm. I understand that you’re all fired up to work now, but you don’t need to be. Your head hurts too, right? Take it easy. I’ll give you the medicine for it now—”

“I just said not to pull your sword out! Geez… er, yes, yes, I understand! Okay, let’s go,” Ryner said, a hand to his head as he set out in a walk. What a pain.

Ferris sheathed her sword again. “You should’ve just said that in the first place.”

“Um, well, what if you happened to show me some kindness for once? I’m always tired from working so hard every day, see.”

“Mm? All I see is you napping every day?”

“Yeah, that’s my job… er, no, that was a joke it was a joke. I get it so don’t kill me!”

“Mm. That leaves me in a bad place. Killing you is my job. I have a quota to ‘kill Ryner once daily.’”

“…Must be nice to be so free…”

They headed towards the fort protected by Imperial Nelphan troops as they spoke.

---

Simultaneously, in the faraway Roland Empire…

The morning air was cold around the trees, bursting with life, and clusters of still, unmoving stones that brought death to mind. The scene down to the indistinct morning felt like a scene made up of illusion. He stood still among the stones.

He had long silver hair that gave off an air of nobility, willful golden eyes, and a proportionate figure.

Sion Astal.

He was extremely well-known within the Roland Empire…

Despite being an illegitimate child of the former king, Sion’s notable efforts during the war with Estabul helped him climb remarkably high within the military in an instant. Then he identified the misgovernment of the previous king and led a brilliantly skillful revolution to his place as the hero king. With his impressive mental prowess, charisma, appearance, and political ability, he’d gained the complete support of his people.

The people who knew him from the castle would say that he was a flawless king. That he never worried, that he never hesitated, and succeeded in all he did as if it was only natural. He was the ideal king that the Roland Empire had always longed for.

The nobles who hated him from the castle would wonder: didn’t that man have any weaknesses? Even when the nobles killed his comrades, he was all smiles and accepted it easily. He was a cold-hearted king with neither tears nor blood.

Those outside the castle walls who didn’t know him would say that he was a perfect king. He was as unreachable as a god. He was surely not human at all - he was just too different from the dirty, vulgar laymen such as themselves. The country would see peace as long as he lived.

Because he was the hero king.

Right.

“…I’m sorry I came so late…”

He couldn’t make mistakes. He couldn’t worry. His strong, willful golden eyes had to stay fixed on what lay ahead.

Even if his precious confidant Fiole was killed by the anti-monarchy party…

“……”

He had to smile. Because his eyes couldn’t waver. He couldn’t be sad about something like this. Or worry about it. Or feel frustrated about it.

But right now… those eyes of his were disfigured by horrible sadness.

He gazed at the headstone before him.

“…I really am sorry for coming so late, Fiole. But right after you died I had to pay a courtesy call to Nelpha. I was busy with official stuff. I couldn’t get away for some time… if I told you that, you’d scold me for working so hard and tell me I was going to destroy my body, right?” Sion asked. He smiled weakly.

This was a cemetery. Not an unnecessarily decorated one like that of the nobility’s. It was a normal, mundane cemetery for commoners. Due to the long military campaigns in Estabul, this cemetery had been widened considerably as an apology to all those who died in the wars.

This place wasn’t suitable for the king. It was only a commoners’ cemetery…

Even so, the king crouched beside it and raised his hand to brush over where Fiole Folkal’s name was engraved. “Do you remember what I said before? That I want to create a country with no classes, where everyone is equal, everyone lives in peace, and there are no wars… I said those self-important things to you…”

Sion punched the ground harshly.

“Right now, I can’t even control the nobility! Because I couldn’t escape their eyes, I couldn’t even mourn for you. I couldn’t even go to your funeral. I couldn’t hide enough to do anything but come visit you here. It’s like I’m the one who killed you… You ended up being killed because I didn’t have enough power… I can’t stand on the same level as you just because they call me king!”

Sion punched the ground again.

“Hey, Sion, cut the shit. You’ll ruin your fist doing that.” A strong arm grabbed Sion’s fist from his side. Sion raised his face. There stood a man with red hair and sharp red eyes whose build was hard like steel. He was in his mid-twenties and the only man in Roland currently who addressed him without honorifics.

Major General Claugh Klom.

He’d been Sion’s subordinate since his time in the military, and now that Sion had become king, Claugh served as his guard. With his great power and popularity, Claugh held an impressive position as major general of the Roland Empire’s army.

Right now, he was looking at Sion with an unpleasant expression. “You’re saying the right thing as always, but you’re not doing the right thing right now. Fiole would definitely get mad if he saw your bloody fist now, right?”

Sion looked at his own fist. His eyes narrowed. “You’re right,” he said quietly.

“Ah-ah-ah-ah geez. That too. That gloomy voice. You sound miserable. Take me for example. Something huge’s just happened but I’m calm as could be. But you don’t seem calm at all.”

Sion furrowed his eyebrows. His voice turned serious. “Something huge? What happened?”

“Whoa whoa, now you’re worrying about me? Even though you’re the one who looks all beat up? If you work your absolute hardest all the time, it’s gonna kill you one day.”

Sion just continued to furrow his eyebrows. “I don’t really… I’m fine. More importantly, this is the first I’ve heard about you being calm. You have a much bigger problem with it than I do.”

Claugh was a bit taken aback. “What do you think of me? I’m human, you know. Obviously I’m just regular calm. Not super calm or anything.”

Sion smiled. It was different from his weak smile from before - it was ever so slightly bright. “Well, jokes aside. What’re you worried about?” Sion asked and stood from his place at Fiole’s grave.

Claugh nodded. “Oh, weeell, see, I’ve actually got this dream.”

“A dream?”

“Yeah. A dream. It’s an amaaazingly grand one too. So much that it looks like it’ll never be granted.”

“Hoh,” Sion said and nodded. “What kind of dream?”

Claugh’s expression turned mysterious. “I dream of making every woman in the world mine.”

“Hah!?” Sion’s voice raised of its own accord. “Hey, you, don’t go saying that all seriou—”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it,” Claugh interrupted. “I know I’m just spouting bullshit. But that’s not what I actually wanted to say.”

“…Huh? Hmm…”

“It’s just that when you call things your dreams or your ideals then they sound like they’ll never happen, right? So maybe we shouldn’t call them that. Am I wrong?”

“…You’re right,” Sion said, his expression changing. He understood what Claugh was saying.

“Now what do you wanna say? That you’re special? That you can easily create your ideal world because you’re king? That because you’re the renowned hero king you, unlike me, can easily make all the women in the world yours?”

Sion shook his head.

Claugh nodded in satisfaction. “Right? Fulfilling your dreams is troublesome. But when I look at you, I know you’re not the kind of guy who complains just because your ideals aren’t a reality yet. Am I wrong?”

“…You’re not wrong.”

“Then let’s be more carefree. Right, Fiole?” Claugh asked. He didn’t direct his question towards his grave. He directed it towards the sky.

“……”

No one replied from anywhere, obviously. Fiole wasn’t here anymore.

Even so, Claugh turned to Sion. “See. Fiole says so too,” he said with a smile.

Sion gazed at Claugh with kind eyes. “You’re right. Thank you, Claugh.”

But Claugh just looked irritated. “Being thanked by a man is gross.”

The bitter smile Sion had until that moment suddenly turned mischievous. “I’m shocked. In truth, I’ve… I’ve always loved you from afar…”

“Gaaah, shut up! That’s seriously gross, so please just stop! God… whatever. Who cares about your jokes. More importantly…”

“Yeah. It’s about time to go.”

Sion and Claugh gazed up at the sky for a moment.

And then, as if talking to someone…

“…I’m going to meet your little sister for the first time today. Geez. What kind of expression should I meet her with—”

Claugh interrupted. “Don’t worry, Fiole. Even if your sister holds a grudge against Sion, I’ll hold her kindl—”

“Hey! She’s only fourteen you know!? Don’t touch her! I’ll kill you if you do!”

“Hear that, Fiole? Our king is trying to take away my right to free love. What a haughty—”

Just then, a piece of wood flew from somewhere, aiming for Claugh’s face.

“Uwah…!?”

Claugh dodged. Sion was just as surprised as he was.

They met each other’s eyes for a moment in astonished silence.

Then Sion spoke. For some reason, he was smiling happily. “See?”

Claugh shrugged, a little bitter. “Oh, I get it. Geez. If I don’t leave Fiole’s sister out of my plan to make all the women in the world mine, he’ll get mad.”

As they spoke, they set out.

Towards the place where Fiole’s sister was…

As Sion walked towards the garden, he looked down to the report in his hand. According to the documents that Calne Kaiwel - another of Sion’s direct subordinates from his time in the military - presented, Fiole’s younger sister, Eslina Folkal’s profile was as follows.

Eslina Folkal, currently fourteen years old.

Due to losing her parents when she was approximately eight years old, she and her older brother Fiole were raised at an institution. Then Fiole’s job under Sion allowed Eslina to attend a school in town, however… due to having never attended school before, her grades started as the lowest in her class. Whether due to her natural ability or her outstanding efforts to not be any more of a burden on her brother than she already was, Eslina eventually managed grades that towered so far above the rest that she was able to skip a grade.

Then Calne’s personal commentary was written below: “Judging by her grades alone, she could be a paperwork and administrative work genius that could stand up to the likes of Fiole Folkal. Save for the envy she causes other students, she is in every way the commendable sister her brother thought she was. I have nearly the same impression, but I think she’s even stronger inside. She didn’t cry even when I told her about her brother’s death. She reacts to any situation with composure, as if she isn’t perturbed in the slightest…”

Sion stopped reading there. He handed the document to Claugh, who was walking beside him, and walked in silence.

Claugh finished reading the document and spoke. “She’s a good kid. As expected of Fiole’s sister.”

Sion nodded. “Yeah… too good of a kid. She reacts to any situation with composure,” Sion spat.

Then that meant that she reacted to her only brother’s murder with composure too?

That… was stupid. There was no way something so stupid could be true…

“It’s ‘cause she’s still fourteen, right?”

She turned her grades around to lighten the burden she was on her only brother. To make her brother’s life easier, even if it was only one day sooner. So that the two of them could live happily…

Sion understood those feelings so well that it hurt. Because Fiole was the same. He worked fervently for his sister’s sake. He put so much effort in that it was eerie. And yet, he… What did Sion end up doing to him?

---

There were seven gardens in Roland Castle where Sion lived. They included three ponds so large a boat could travel on them, flowers arranged skillfully so that they appeared to never die no matter the season, and of course they were all needlessly large. All in all, their combined maintenance costs were painfully high…

There were times that Sion had walked through those gardens with the late Fiole.

Someday, when he’d seized complete power over the nobility, Sion wanted to close those gardens and save the people’s tax money from going to such a frivolous thing. They’d calculated where that money might have the best effect when they could reroute it elsewhere…

It had been a warmer season then. The flowers were different; they weren’t cold colors like the ones blooming now. It had been that season where flower bloomed in warmer, fascinatingly elegant colors…

Fiole had looked to the abundant, almost excessively blooming flowers and spoken. “But I think it’d be nice to leave just this garden.”

“Hm? But this is the castle’s largest garden. If we destroyed it, it could have an exceptional effect on costs.”

“That is true, but… don’t you think a castle without any gardens lacks dignity?”

“Hey, you sound a liiiitle like a noble right now, Fiole.”

“Really…? Well, that may be. But this garden is beautiful even when compared to the others. I was just thinking that you might be able to rest your mind and forget work even a little here, Lord Astal. Please think of yourself a little too, geez. You work too much! You don’t eat properly, and you don’t sleep…”

He’d started his usual preaching. Sion became flustered. “Ah, alright alright I get it. I’ll acknowledge that this is a beautiful place.”

“Right,” Fiole said. His expression turned kind. “And I want to be able to show it to my sister…”

“Hm? It’s fine if you show her.”

“It’s not that easy. If you don’t rest, Lord Astal, then there is no way I can rest either. I don’t have the time to call on my sister.”

“Huh? It’s my fault?”

Fiole shook his head. “Haha. I’m joking. If I had a little time - just a little is fine, then I think I’d like to show her, though. And I want to introduce her to you, Lord Astal… But I want this country to be more of yours first. Then, in that nearby future… people won’t be separated by petty things, and it’ll become a country where anyone and everyone can smile… At that time, surely even I’ll have some free time.”

“…You’re right,” Sion had said. “I’ll work hard so that’ll happen soon.”

“Yes. But I really don’t think that future is far at all. Because you became king of our country…”

Fiole had been looked at the flowers, enjoying himself as he replied.

What had he been thinking about back then?

That happy future that would surely come someday?

That future where everyone could grow up smiling?

But… that future wouldn’t come for him…

---

Two people had at last arrived in the garden.

One was a man: Calne Kaiwel. He had wavy golden hair that looked quite soft, blue eyes, and he left a dainty impression. Like Claugh, he’d put his life on the line for Sion during the revolution. He was one of Sion’s chief vassals.

Calne waved when he caught sight of Sion and rushed over to him. “Geez, you’re laaate! I’ve been waiting for forever! I bet it’s Claugh’s fault for being such a pain!”

“Aahn? You never know, it might be Sion’s fault.”

“That’d never happen!” Calne said. “I mean, he’s not the type to be late! On the other hand, you don’t even have a concept of time! Just the other day you forgot you promised to take a girl out and made me apologize to her for you!”

Claugh was flabbergasted. “Uwah. Are you really holding a grudge against me for something that happened so long ago?”

“Hah!? It hasn’t even been a week yet!”

“Ahhn? Is a week really that short to you?”

“A week is short to everyone!”

Claugh was all smiles despite their arguing. “Huh? That so, that so. I guess I misunderstood. See, I thought a week was pretty long for you since you’ve already gone out with and broken up with three people’s wives over the course of one before.”

“Wha!? H-h-how do you know about that!? Ah, it’s not like that, Sion, sir! There were extenuating circumstances, and—”

Sion forced a smile at the flustered Calne. “Amazing, Calne. Certainly, I had heard that you were seeing Lord Paul’s wife before my visit to Nelpha…”

“That’s already the far off past,” Claugh said. “I can count twelve since.”

“Aauuugh, how do you even know about that!?”

“T-twelve!? Isn’t that a few too many?” Sion asked. “You’re going to get stabbed at this rate.”

Claugh laughed. “Nah, it’s fine. They all dump him anyway.”

“Aww,” Calne muttered, appearing on the verge of tears. “They don’t need me once they get a new lover… or it seemed like their husbands were going to figure it out, so they ask to separate… Oh, why is god putting me alone through these trials…? Did I do something wrong?”

“Adultery,” Sion and Claugh said simultaneously.

“Aww…”

“Geez,” Claugh said. “Give up on the older women already. It isn’t decent to be hitting on another guy’s wife all the time.”

“I don’t need you to lecture me. Like you have a problem with dating women with husbands.”

“Idioot. That only happens to me when they hide it.”

Sion listened to their conversation with a somewhat forced but otherwise slightly happy smile. “In any case, I’d be happy if the both of you had a little more restraint. I know you have hardships of your own, but you’re more or less my chief vassals, so your bad behavior reflects poorly on me too.”

“Hardships? Did you say hardships?” Calne said. “I only have serious affairs. Please don’t group me in with him, he’s slaphappy!”

“Whoa, whoa, I can’t just let that pass. It’s troublesome for me if you group me in with a pervert who only wants to fuck other people’s wives, Sion.”

“Pervert!? Who’re you calling a pervert? I’ll never forgive you!”

“Aah? Who’d you call slaphappy? You wanna go, huh? Why don’t I teach ya how to say so nicely, since I’m your senior and all?”

“Hey! I’m always super polite even without your help!”

“Well, your super polite needs to be ultra super polite for me!”

What a conversation. It seemed like they’d start fist fighting each other sooner than later. But Sion just smiled. He knew those two would never seriously fight each other. Well, they were always talking about worthless things like this, but… today was different.

Today… the two of them would introduce Sion to Fiole’s little sister to try to cheer him up.

Sion smiled kindly at the two as they argued and acted like they were both hopeless. “Geez, you two are being more considerate than the issue deserves. But, well, thanks. Now let’s go,” Sion said and walked.

Claugh and Calne followed, puzzled. Then once they caught up to him they began talking amongst themselves quietly.

“He noticed because you suck at acting,” Claugh said.

“You’re the one who sucks at it! My acting was true to life! I acting using the same nerves that light up when I whisper love to someone’s wife!”

They might’ve been trying to hide their hushed conversation, but in the end, Sion heard it all. It wasn’t as if either of them were good actors, really…

Sion listened to them for no particular reason as he faced forward. He was watching the girl there. She had a handsome face that tugged at his memory and shoulder-length amber hair. Her willful blue eyes contrasted her delicate, almost frail body. Sion looked into her eyes as he approached, his own eyes narrowing…

When he stopped before her, she bowed deeply. “I am Fiole Folkal’s sister, Eslina Folkal.”

Calne rushed over to her side, flustered. “Er, um, yes, Sion, sir. That’s who she is.”

“That’s not an introduction,” Claugh said.

“Aw, geez! Leave the details out!” Calne snapped.

A smile smile curved onto Eslina’s lips. Sion examined her.

She was wearing a simple white dress, no accessories such as earrings or bracelets, and didn’t seem to be wearing much if any make-up. Like Fiole, she dressed appropriately for her income bracket, but Fiole was always working for her sake. It wasn’t as if she had no money…

She just wasn’t an extravagant person. Sion understood something of her personality just by looking at her. She was at the age where he expected her to have at least a little interest in clothes and cosmetics, but she did without them so as to lighten the burden on her brother, even if only a little.

Of course, he couldn’t very well look elsewhere for her brother’s sake…

Somehow, her form seemed to shine. She was the exact opposite of the noble ladies who Sion often had to interact with, who seemed to have no talents save for reckless spending on luxuries.

But a young girl of Eslina’s age didn’t have a reason to get dressed up. Fiole was right. She’d without a doubt grow to be beautiful in the future.

Sion grimaced. Even though Fiole had wanted to protect her above all else… he’d been killed…

And all Sion could do, powerless as he was… was let it happen.

“…I’m horribly in debt to your brother,” Sion said.

In an instant, Eslina’s expression changed. She smiled, her whole face lighting up. “Your words are more than we deserve. I am sure my brother would have wept tears of joy should he hear His Majesty say such a thing.”

She said that with a smile. She truly looked happy. Even though her brother was dead, she truly looked happy. Even though it was Sion’s fault that her brother died…

Eslina watched Sion and continued. “Please, don’t make such a face. My brother would be sad.”

“Huh?” Sion was surprised at her sudden words. It was like she’d looked straight into his heart and studied it with those clear eyes of hers.

“…My brother was happy,” she continued. “Happy to have met His Majesty, happy to serve His Majesty. He sent me many letters telling me how happy he was for that. It made me happy. So please don’t make that face. I believe my brother passed away happily. So I’m not sad at all. I think he passed away while dreaming the dream that His Majesty drew for him… so I would also like to serve His Majesty. I also want to help achieve that dream my brother saw.”

He passed away happily so she wasn’t sad at all, she said with a smile.

But he knew that was a lie. There was no way she wouldn’t be sad.

Sion narrowed his eyes. “Calne. What did you tell her about Fiole’s cause of death?”

“…Huh? Oh, um…”

“Calne!”

“Yes!? Er, I said… that it was an unfortunate accident…”

“…I see,” Sion whispered. Then he took a deep breath. “It wasn’t just an ‘unfortunate accident.’”

He knew that Eslina was getting nervous.

“No, um, Sion, sir!?” Calne said.

But Sion ignored him. “Fiole was… killed by the nobility to warn me… He was killed because I didn’t have the power to control the nobility. Even knowing that, do you still want to help me?”

Eslina didn’t respond.

Sion took a letter from his pocket and handed it to her. It was the letter he’d wrote to her just prior to his death… it had been stained red with his blood.

Eslina, thank you for always sending me letters. Sorry my reply is pretty late. But you seem well. That really reassures your big brother. It sounds like your grades are good too, and that you’re doing your best, so I’ll do my best to cheer you on.

I am blessed with a good boss. Lord Astal, the king, is a wonderful person. He treats commoners like us just the same as anyone else. I’m truly glad that he became king of this country. I think we can be proud of Roland as long as he leads it. I’d like it if you could meet Lord Astal once, too.

Ah, right, Lord Astal has given me vacation time this weekend. See, isn’t he kind? I think I’ll go see you then. It’s been a while since I’ve come home. Make me mom’s special stew, okay? You’re good at cooking, just like she was. You’ll become a great wife. If your partner were Lord Astal… well, that’s not something people of our status should be saying, is it~?

In any case, I’m looking forward to seeing you this weekend.

Fiole Folkal

“…A…uuh…”

That weekend would never come.

They’d never be able to spend time together again.

Eslina’s hands shivered as they held the blood-stained letter. “…Uuuahh…”

Tears were overflowing from her eyes. They’d been so courageous a moment ago.

Fiole had been looking forward to seeing her again. He’d been looking forward to seeing the country change. He was looking forward to being able to live happily with his sister in this country.

Even so, the letter in which he’d written out that modest wish of his was stained with blood.

The blood of Fiole, who’d been meaninglessly killed.

“…a, uu…”

Eslina stifled her voice. Even so, her tears wouldn’t stop. She hugged his letter tightly, but her tears wouldn’t stop. She clenched her teeth, but her tears still wouldn’t stop.

“The one who couldn’t protect him… no, the one who let him get killed was me,” Sion said as he watched her. It wasn’t an accident. Do you still want to serve me, knowing that?”

“……”

She took a deep breath to calm herself. She kept the letter held close to her chest with one hand and wiped her tears with the other. “I… I loved my brother. It was always just the two of us after our parents died… and even though he was only eleven, he always protected me… always, always protected me… He wasn’t like me. He wasn’t useless at all. He could do anything… and he did, too. He always did his best, no matter what. Even so, he… I-I can’t even say it… I never thought this would happen…”

Her words came out mixed with sobs. She sounded like she was going to fall into another bout of tears, but she held on and took another breath before continuing.

“But I… I really do think he was happy. After he met His Majesty, he’s all he talked about. So I want to of use to the one who made him happy - Your Majesty. Because I don’t want to make my brother angry…”

Sion didn’t answer.

Was that really true?

Would Fiole really want her to stand by Sion’s side? What if this time the nobility raised their hands against her? Would Sion be able to protect her?

“I can’t be sure at this time, but I think her abilities will come to rival Fiole’s,” Calne said. “I guarantee that she’s an excellent kid. A-am I wrong?”

No. That wasn’t the problem. Her abilities were very good.

More than that… he was afraid that the same thing that happened to Fiole would happen to her.

“We won’t let the same thing happen again,” Claugh said.

“……”

“And if you’re still worried? I don’t mind looking after her.”

Calne instantly became flustered. “Wait a minute! That’d be bad! Sion, please make him stop, sir! He has no age limit when it comes to girls!!”

“The hell does that mean!”

“I think it’s rather obvious!

“What’d you say!? I’m just different from you! Old women aren’t my specialty!”

“Augh!? What are you saying in front of Eslina! You’re going to make her doubt my dignity!”

Eslina watched their heated, but very pointless, back-and-forth. “Wha… gh, geez… ahahaha. Are you two always like this?” She smiled without a care in the world. “I think I understand why my brother loved this place…”

She looked around. As if led by her, Sion did the same.

The flowers weren’t blooming over-abundantly like they had been when Fiole was there, but many were still blooming nonetheless. It was certainly beautiful.

She laughed, and again spoke like she was reading his mind. “Not the flowers. My brother loved you. You’re kind, kind to a fault, and would even worry about his sister after his passing. He loved his fun coworkers, too… Please allow me to work here as well. No, even if you say no I’ll work hard until I reach this place. I come from a pretty hard-working family after all.”

Sion forced a smile. “You’re right about that… well, Calne certainly does tend to fancy other men’s wives. It might be good for him to spend some time around a girl a little closer to his age and learn about their charms too…”

“Augh!? Even you’re saying that now!? Why did this happen?”

Eslina smiled. “Um, does that mean it’s okay for me to stay here!? Yay!”

She took Calne’s hand in her happiness.

Sion narrowed his eyes. She was a strong kid.

If she’d wanted revenge against the nobles who killed her brother…

If she’d held a grudge against Sion for helplessly letting her brother be killed…

She’d already shut those thoughts out… so that she could face forward and live.

Sion wasn’t capable of doing that. He couldn’t smile like her.

His mother’s face rose to his mind. She’d been ridiculed, treated like an idiot, an insect, a worm up until her death.

Had he been able to make a face like the one Eslina was making now during his mother’s last moments…?

It was at that moment that he heard a cold voice from behind. A lifeless, demonic voice…

“Your Majesty. You have spent plenty enough time playing around. Eslina Folkal. People such as yourself cannot stand at His Majesty’s side.”

Sion turned around. At some point, a lone man had come to stand there.

He had beautifully combed pitch black hair. He was around the same height as Claugh, but rather thinner. His face was breathtakingly handsome, but… that wasn’t what caught one’s eye when they looked at him. His most distinctive feature was his cold, dark blue eyes…

They held a certain frigidity as they looked down on all other people, and lent him a dark aura…

Colonel Miran Froaude.

He was one of Sion’s personnel. He’d said that he wanted Sion to have a military rule over Roland… over the whole continent of Menoris, united as the Great Roland Empire with Sion ruling as its king.

He’d said that he wanted to shoulder the dark, dirty things necessary for that result…

His abilities towered above the rest. He took on the work Sion entrusted him with, the things Fiole had done, and the dirty work that Sion couldn’t let Fiole do all single handedly and completed it so perfectly that it was obscene…

For better or worse, he was extremely efficient. Because of that, he didn’t get along well with people like Claugh and Calne…

Claugh was glaring at Froaude even now. “Where’d you come from?”

“…Where did I come from…? I walked here on that path just like everyone else.”

“That’s not what I meant! I was asking what gave you the idea to stand and eavesdrop. You erased your presence to get close and everything.”

He was right. Froaude had completely erased his presence. So completely that even Claugh, whose sense for these things was stronger than Sion’s, hadn’t noticed him.

But Froaude just shrugged. “Please don’t turn on me, Major General Klom. I had no intention of suppressing my presence… in any case, I see a small resemblance to him in that girl, so I thought I’d speak up. She is Miss Eslina Folkal, Fiole Folkal’s younger sister, correct?”

“What if she is?” Claugh replied.

Froaude held out the hand bearing that unusual black ring of his. He pointed it towards Eslina and narrowed his sharp eyes. “Then I shall kill her here and now.”

“What!?”

“You…”

Calne and Claugh both responded in an instant then readied themselves for a fight.

The garden’s atmosphere changed in an instant - it froze over.

Froaude tilted his head. “Oh? Why do you seem like you want to kill me, Major General Klom? Did I say something strange?”

“Everything you say is strange, you gloomy bastard. I won’t let you kill Eslina.”

Froaude stared fixedly at Claugh… and then smiled slightly. “Are you saying that you intend to protect Eslina Folkal?”

“Obviously.”

“How reliable of you. But is your job not to protect Lord Astal? Then why should you protect Eslina Folkal? She may someday desire vengeance on His Majesty and seek to kill him. Why should you keep her in the castle?”

Eslina responded in an instant. “I wouldn’t—”

Calne cut her off. “Eslina wouldn’t do that!” He yelled.

But Froaude just turned his cold eyes on Eslina. “Is that so?”

Eslina shivered under his bottomless gaze, but managed to speak with great effort. “I-I… wouldn’t do anything that would make my brother sad.”

At that, a faint - extremely faint, to the point it was hard to see - smile rose to Froaude’s lips. “Is that so. Make no mistake. I will aide your revenge. Slaughtering the nobles that writhe within this country is of utmost importance. If you have any desire at all for revenge for your brother, then please, come to me at any time. You are still young. Beautiful. If you use your body, trapping the nobility is easy—”

“If you say another fucking word, I’m going to murder you,” Claugh said.

“There’s no way Eslina would do something like that!” Calne said.

“Is that so? I heard that Miss Folkal loved her brother horribly so…”

“Keep it at that, Froaude,” Sion said quietly but oppressively. “I won’t let Eslina do anything like that. I won’t forgive it. And…”

He looked to Eslina, who was hanging her head, staring at the ground with hollow eyes.

“Fiole wouldn’t forgive that either. It’d make him sad, Eslina. So don’t worry about that stuff.”

Eslina looked to Sion, taken aback. She nodded wordlessly.

Once he was sure she was okay, Sion looked back to Froaude. He glared as he studied him.

“My… have I perhaps soured your good mood?” Froaude asked.

“Yeah,” Sion said and nodded.

“How rude of me,” Froaude said. He smiled faintly and bowed. “By the way, about the matter I submitted to you before…”

Froaude changed the conversation completely… Sion grimaced. Froaude was always presenting him with this or that recently, all centering around one idea: that Sion should invade Nelpha.

He wanted Sion to wage a war of conquest.

Sion shook his head lightly. “I should have rejected that already? I have no intention of going to war with Nelpha now.”

Claugh, Calne, and even Eslina all raised their voices in shock.

“Huh!? Sion, what’s this all about?” Claugh asked. “Is Froaude seriously telling you to go to war with Nelpha!?”

“You’re joking, right?” Calne followed. “The war with Estabul is finally over… and didn’t you just go to Nelpha on a courtesy call to deepen our countries’ friendship!?”

Eslina was speechless, but her face said it all.

Even though they’d finally achieved peace…

Everyone here… no, everyone in all of Roland knew what it was like to fear war from their long history of fighting.

Wars were meaningless and sad. Everyone knew that…

“Is this not a strange conversation?” Froaude asked. “Our friendship with Nelpha is our chance. We don’t know if Nelpha is also thinking of attacking Roland, and if we should invade now, we should have quite the advantage.”

Claugh glared at Froaude, his eyes thick with hatred. “You bastard… you still intend to spill blood after everything?”

Froaude continued, his tone detached, in defiance of Claugh’s glare. “Major General Klom, are you familiar with the country of Stohl?”

“Ah? Obviously. It’s one of the biggest countries on the continent. It’s to the north.”

“Setting aside trivial matters like whether it is north or south… Roland is approximately the fifth largest country on the continent. It is impossible to compare their country’s national power and army to our own. Ah, in that case, do you know of Gastark?”

“No. What are you even trying to say?” Claugh asked.

“If I recall, Gastark was a small country up until recently,” Eslina said. Lord Klom, in a matter of months, they’ve gained an incredible amount of power. They’ve already conquered two other small countries… and now they’ve gone to war with Stohl. What Lord Froaude wants to say is likely… that Menoris is currently entering an era of war…”

She had already resigned herself to a detached tone. Claugh and Calne looked at her in surprise.

Froaude nodded. “She is quite a sensible lady. She is correct. Roland will soon be invaded as well. We have already become a great country incomparable to the likes of Estabul, but if we allow ourselves to be consumed by that thought, we won’t move as quickly as we must.”

“So you want to invade Nelpha so we stay relevant?” Claugh asked.

“But I think it’s fine if we don’t invade Nelpha?” Calne said. “We have an alliance with our other neighbor, the Runa Empire, too. If Nelpha, Runa, and Roland all cooperate, it shouldn’t matter how big the opposing country is…”

Froaude shook his head. “That is impossible. Gastark and Stohl are both militaristic countries through and through. A naive alliance cannot stand up against them. To top it off, do you really think the comfortable nobles of Nelpha would fight for it? They are like Roland’s nobility who have no sense of impending danger and would even attempt to assassinate their own king…”

Claugh and Calne were unable to object.

There was no way they could compete with a great country, should push come to shove.

“Even so, I don’t think it’s impossible,” Sion said. “You understand that, don’t you, Froaude?”

“You don’t have the time to say something so easygoing.”

“Where in Roland is this power to invade Nelpha coming from? Though Roland might seem to have entered the realm of great countries after annexing the Kingdom of Estabul, in truth we have only feeble control over it, right? Do you really think this is the time to go annexing another country?”

Claugh and Calne nodded.

When they did, Froaude seemed to understand. “I see. So that’s how it is. As expected, Lord Astal. You understand our country’s situation well. Then I would like to talk about another of the proposals I submitted.”

“Shit,” Sion grumbled. “That development…”

“Yes. The development. May I continue in front of everyone…?”

“…Sorry. Guys, can you go on ahead of me?”

“Wait, Sion! Explain—”

“Claugh!” Sion said, raising his voice just a hair.

Claugh stopped, then glared at Froaude and clicked his tongue. “Tch. Aw, yeah, yeah, whatever. You’ve gotta have another sneaky conversation. Tell me about it later, okay?”

Sion smiled a little. “Yeah. I intend to.”

“Alright, we’ll head back to the castle first then. Is it okay if Eslina goes with Calne for now?”

“Yeah,” Sion said.

“Let’s go then. Calne, Eslina.”

With that, Claugh walked off, dejected.

“Ah, p-please wait. Sion, I’ll go on ahead, sir!” Calne said.

Eslina cast a worried glance at Sion. He raised a hand lightly to show it was alright. She bowed once then followed Calne.

Sion watched them until they were so far away he couldn’t see them any more to make sure they’d left, then spoke. “So?” He turned his tired face to Froaude.

Froaude smiled coldly and began to speak again. “It is as you said before, Lord Astal. Our country is in an extremely problematic situation at the moment. It is not a situation where invading Nelpha is definitely possible. We must seize complete control over Estabul at once.”

“Mm. Right. What of Estabul’s royal family’s movements?”

“There isn’t much of a problem there. As you ordered, the royal family and high-ranking nobility of Estabul have been given satisfactory Rolander equivalents in status and privilege. They have been appointed guards as well. It has easily rendered them powerless. At any rate, they’re cowards who lower themselves before us. They are no problem at all.”

“So?”

“The problem is the nobility who think of their country. The ones who don’t wish to bow to Roland without a real war. They have been stewing in their grudges under the other nobility, and wish to see the situation turn explosive… The people of Estabul also have faith in them. They hold a certain power that we can’t get rid of even when we disperse their armies.”

Sion crossed his arms. “So they’re people who want an ideal government, aren’t they. Nobles who think of their country, huh. I’d definitely like to bring people like that over to my side.”

Froaude’s dark eyes peered into Sion questioningly. “However - and I said this before as well - we do not have the time for that. Please consider my proposal from before: executing Estabul’s nobility…”

Sion’s expression clouded over as he listened. “That’s… not going to happen.”

Froaude smirked as a devil would. “Of course not. Your majesty is a generous, open-minded king. No matter how many problems Estabul’s nobility cause you, you will not punish them indiscreetly… But what if the nobles who think of their country should all gather in one place and stage a rebellion? I doubt anyone would complain if you killed them all then.”

“……”

“It is simple,” Froaude continued. “We create a ‘ringleader’ from within Roland’s supporters and stage a rebellion ourselves. If we do, we should be able to easily gather up the anti-Roland faction and annihilate it.”

It was an unbelievable plan.

Gather up those who are honestly thinking about their country, Estabul, instill false hope in them, and in the end, accuse them of a crime and slaughter them all.

The way Froaude went about things was certainly effective. With methods like this, he could certainly kill many dangerous people at once. Nobody would think that they themselves would cause a rebellion on their own lands.

If they did that, they’d be able to nip the rebellions that may or may not happen right to the bud…

But… but even so…

Sion’s face twisted in clear disgust. “Even if… we could capture Estabul with those inhumane methods—”

“Of course we could, Your Majesty,” Froaude interrupted. “But I do not expect Your Majesty to accept such an inhumane plan. I only wanted you to know that such methods exist…’

Just then, a lone man with a frantic look to him ran to Sion. “B-bad news, Your Majesty! Estabul’s nobility has assembled and, and… caused a rebellion!”

Sion immediately glared at Froaude.

But Froaude accepted his glare pleasantly. “My, what a coincidence. The time when you must decide is fast approaching: will you rule beautifully, or will you become a true king…? I will remain devoted to you no matter your choice…”

“…Who’s the ringleader of the rebellion?”

Froaude smiled faintly. “Coincidentally, it appears to be an acquaintance of mine…”

“……”

Shit…

Certainly, there were many merits to slaughtering all of Estabul’s nobility. For the sake of Roland’s people, including those from the captured Estabul, they had to be prepared for another country to invade them from here on out…

But even so, he…

He…

“……”

Sion looked up. He ordered Froaude with a decisive expression.

“As you wish…”

Froaude smiled and bowed softly.

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